Former Packers’ safety Willie Wood spoke at congressional hearing on memory loss

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Former Packers’ safety Willie Wood was among those at a congressional hearing yesterday on what the NFL’s doing to help retired players with memory loss.

The 72-year-old Wood played on Vince Lombardi’s Glory Years championship teams in the 1960s.

He says he’s feeling pretty good but he could not explain why he came to Capitol Hill from the assisted living facility where he now resides in downtown Washington.

The hearing was called after a preliminary study showed that retired pro football players have higher rates of Alzheimer’s and other memory problems than the population as a whole.

Commissioner Roger Goodell told the House Judiciary Committee that league officials are taking the subject seriously, and they’re giving retirees the support and respect they deserve.

But other witnesses said the NFL was not doing enough to solve long-term problems with head injuries.

Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ president Gay Culverhouse said team doctors don’t necessarily have the players’ best interests at heart.

He said players should be cared for by doctors who don’t work for the teams themselves.

Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said Congress should reconsider the league’s anti-trust exemption, but Republicans said the government has no business meddling that way.

Tags: wi sports, memory loss, nfl, football, retirees